De Anza College
EWRT 1A: Fall 2015
Kline
Speaking In Tongues Would you like to give your child a leg-up on their work opportunities? How about increase their brain activity and intelligence levels? If giving your child an advantage in the world is important to you and your child, then a language immersion program is what you're looking for. You might ask yourself, how does language immersion do that? Language immersion is a method by which students are taught school subjects in a second language. This allows them to embrace and experience another language. The method itself involves a more "hands-on" approach towards learning by exposing the student directly to the cultural as well as oral and visual characteristics of …show more content…
Learning another language makes you sharper. It's no secret when learning a new language, you must focus on two chores at once. This gives bilinguals an edge over monolinguals. From "Speaking in Tongues" Li-Chi Wang stated at the San Francisco Board of Education, "We now know that children acquire 2nd or 3rd language more effectively at an early age, and most importantly their knowledge of a second language also stimulates and enhances their learning of other subjects as well." Many parents are concerned learning another language will compromise their ability to learn and speak English. In reality, being bilingual increases comprehension capacity and sharpens brain function thus allowing English to be used more creatively. Facts from "Speaking in Tongues" indicate public school students in Houston who studied school in English only had a significantly higher dropout rate than those in immersion programs. Furthermore, when learning a new language, it's back to basics in terms of learning grammar, verb tenses and parts of speech. Therefore, when speaking in their native tongue, children become more conscious about the way they present their words. Learning another language is a lot like exercising the brain. The more it gets worked out, the more it will grow a custom to more innovative ways. language immersion programs are proven effective at keeping the brain healthy because it forces students to employ a more innovative …show more content…
Many immigrant families that move to America whether voluntarily or forced lose their native tongue. Down the line, children of these families know nothing of their actual native background. As evident in "Language Use in the United States: 2007," for example, Italian lost around 800,000 speakers over the span of 27 years. Luckily today we have language immersion programs that serves as hope to maintain and preserve languages and cultures. It can revive a lost culture in a family or carry on a fading lifestyle. Children will gain the ability to connect to their native roots, family, and customs. As seen in "Speaking in Tongues" Kelly's parents, Jenny and Victor, were ashamed to have Kelly connect with her grandparents because they were unable to do so themselves when they were her age. Also from the film, Jason's teacher Esthela Ford says if he didn't attend the language immersion program he would definitely lose his Spanish. She says as children learn more and more English, the more they speak the language with friends. Additionally, children can indulge themselves in a whole new culture that they will learn to love. Also from the film, one of the kids, Julian, falls in love with Chinese. After years of studying the language, he takes a trip to China where he could fully embrace his newfound culture first hand. As he communicates with store vendors and friends, he enjoys his trip to the